Chicago Marathon Feedback (Read 568 times)

I'm pretty close to signing up for the Chicago marathon this year, but I have some questions I'm hoping someone who has run the marathon can answer:
I know the marathon is huge but I was wondering if I should expect to have to spend a lot of time just "moving along" with the crowd or dodging people. I ask as I've seen some photos on their website and they all shows MASSES of people where it seems you may not be able to go faster even if you wanted. Is that what I should expect, or are those photos misleading (e.g, shot with a telephoto lens and thus "compressing" the scene)
This seems to also to be case even at the finish line.
Would a marathon like Chicago always have pace groups? I check the Clifbar website and they list the marathons at which they will have pacers, but Chicago isn't listed.

I ran Chicago two years ago and have signed up already for this year.
You always seem to be around people but they never seemed to slow me down. I think everyone gets spread out enough at the start to keep the traffic to a minimum. At the water stops is probably the worst, but that's pretty typical at most races.
Overall I think Chicago is a great race, well organized and a lot of fun to run.
Hope that helps a little.

I ran Chicago last year. Being my first marathon, I had to start in the last corral. I did find it hard to pass people for at least the first five miles. However, after that it wasn't too bad. If you have a qualifying time to get into one of the preferred corrals make sure you do it, otherwise you'll be stuck in traffic for a while. I was literally turning sideways and darting between people sometimes to get by. As for the pacing groups, they do have them. New Balance sponsors them so you won't see it where you were looking. It should be on the website for the race. I know it's my only marathon, but I couldn't imagine a better one to run. It was well organized and had tons of croud support. And free beer.

I don't think you can go wrong running chicago, derek. Besides Boston--which is my hometown race--Chicago is the only big city marathon I want to do someday--everyone I know who's done it ran a good time for them and enjoyed it. My sister ran it last year and ran a 30 minute PR--in her 8th marathon! The logistics there are much simpler than with other big city races since its a loop course downtown. You can get a hotel that is walking distance to the start/finish and that eliminates 90% of the hassle of doing big city 'thons.
Plus I like Chicago.

You can get a hotel that is walking distance to the start/finish and that eliminates 90% of the hassle of doing big city 'thons.

I booked and paid for a hotel that is 0.25 miles from the start and finish. My wife and kids will be accompanying me so after the start, my wife can easily head back to the hotel for a bit if my kids start to get a bit out of hand, or even to get a little rest (they're currently 2 and 5 years old, but would be 3 and 6 at the time of the marathon)